Resilient seal assembly



April 12, 1966 c. E. MEYERHOEFER 3,

RESILIENT SEAL ASSEMBLY Filed April 26, 1963 m I 2 5 m 2 4 6 n 6 w s p. 4

INVENTOR I W x M M 144 m W,

ATTORNE YS.

United States Patent 3,245,695 RESILIENT SEAL ASSEMBLY Carl E. Meyerhoefer, 264-30 60th Ave, Little Neck 62, NY. Filed Apr. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 276,015 Claims. (Cl. 229-53) This invention relates to bags having seals for use around the edges of a bag opening that fits over the air inlet pipe of a vacuum cleaner, or for similar uses. The invention relates also to methods for applying such seals to bags and to stiff collars that are attached to the bags to reinforce a wall of the bag in which the opening is located.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bag for one time use (throw-away) having a wall with a generally circular opening therethrough and with a simple form of seal for preventing leakage of air between the edges of the opening and the outside surface of a pipe of a vacuum cleaner that is inserted through the opening.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the seal is a substantially fiat annulus of sheet material extending inwardly beyond the edges of the opening through the bag, the sheet material being rubber or other resilient and stretchable material that is distorted by the pipe to lie partially along the outside surface of the pipe in a position hugging the pipe to form the seal.

Another object is to provide a vacuum cleaner bag made of air-pervious paper and with an opening through one wall having a sealcomprising an annulus of sheet material that extends inwardly beyond the edges of the opening and that is distorted inwardly by insertion of an air inlet pipe of a vacuum cleaner into the opening. Pressure'of air inside the bag forces the distorted part of the ring against the pipe with progressively greater force as the pressure of the air inside the bag increases.

Another object is to provide an improved method for attaching seals around the edges of an opening through 'a'wall of the bag. In the prefer-red embodiment, the seal is attached directly to a reinforcing collar that strengthens the wall of the bag at the opening. Such a collar may be relatively stiff or flexible, depending upon the amount of reinforcement required for the bag, and this, in turn, depends partly upon whether the opening is through a wall of the bag which is of single thickness or. through a bottom of the bag where the paper has beenjfolded and the wall is stiffened by the layers of paper folded over one another.

, The seal can be applied directly to the bag without any reinforcing, where the bag is of sufficient strength and the expression panel will be used herein as a generic term to indicate a wall of the bag, a reinforcing collar, and a composite construction in which such a collar is attached to the wall of the bag.

Other objects, features and advantages of the inven- ,tion will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view showing a bag embodying this invention, the bag being shown in the expanded condition which prevails when air is being blown into the bag;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view showing a method of applying seals to a reinforcing collar such as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view further illustrating the method shown in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 1 shows a bag which is preferably made of air pervious paper and which is to be used as the dust bag for a vacuum cleaner. The bag 10 is of the selfopening type and has a fiat panel or bottom 12 at one end. The bag 10 has sides 14 which fold along fold lines 16 and 18 in the manner which is conventional for self-opening bags.

The bag 10 also has a front wall 20 and a back wall 22; and these walls 20 and 22 are held together by a folded sealing strip 24 at the other end of the bag.

There is an opening 30 (FIGURE 2) through the bottom 12. A reinforcing collar 32 is attached to the bottom 12 by adhesive 34 which covers the back face of the collar 32. There is an opening 40 through the collar 32 and this opening 40 is substantially concentric with the opening 30 and preferably of slightly smaller diameter so that the edges of the opening 30 do not extend beyond the edges of the opening 40 even though there are some manufacturing tolerances in securing the collar 32 in a concentric relation with the opening 30.

An annulus or ring 44 is attached to the face of the reinforcing collar 3-2. This ring 44 is made of resilient and stretchable sheet material. It may be made of rubher or plastic and is preferably made of polyethylene. The inside diameter of the ring 44 is somewhat less than the diameter of the opening 49, and the outside 40 so that a part of the radial width of the ring 44 confronts the surface of the reinforcing collar 32.

The ring 44 is secured to the collar 32 over an annular area 46. This annular area may be covered with adhesive; but in the preferred embodiment of the invention the ring 44 is heat-sealed to the collar 32 over the annular area 46. This heat-sealing actually uses surface material of the ring itself as adhesive for bonding the ring 44 to the collar 32 over the area 46.

It is a feature of the preferred construction that the annular area 46 terminates some distance back from the edge of the opening 40. This leaves the ring 44 free of the collar 32 for some distance in front of the collar 32 around the opening 40.

When an air inlet pipe is inserted into the bag 10 through the openings 30 and 40, the ring 44 has its inner edge portion 5a distorted to the generally cylindrical shape indicated by dotted lines in FIGURE 2. Because of the resilience and stretchability of the ring 44, this distorted cylindrical portion 50 hugs the outside surface of the air inlet pipe. As air pressure inside the bag 10 increases, the pressure forces the distorted portion of the ring against the pipe with greater pressure.

FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrate diagrammatically the way in which the ring is applied to the collar 32. Referring first to FIGURE 3, there is a work station 55 at which the collar 32 is located on an anvil 56. The collar 32 fits into a shallow channel 58 in the anvil and the collar is located under a ram 60 which is movable up and down toward the anvil 56.

A web 64 extends across the collar 32. This web 64 is some what wider than the ring 44 (FIGURE 2) that is to be secured to the collar 32. The web 64 unwinds from a supply reel 66 and winds up on a take-up reel 68 located on the other side of the work station from the sup-ply reel.

The web 64 is wound on the take-up reel 68 by a torque motor 70 which maintains a constant tension on the web 64 between the take-up reel 68 and feed rolls 72. These feed rolls are operated intermittently to advance a length of the web 64 from the supply reel 66 across the work station 55. When the feed rolls 72 are not turning, they have sullicient friction to prevent the take-up reel 68 from advancing the web 64.

The ram 60 includes an annular heater '76 which moves downward into contact with the web 64 and which pushes the web 64 into contact with the top surface of the collar 32. Continued pressure of the heater '76 softens the material of the web 64 and heat seals the clamped portion of the web 64 to the collar 32. There is a shallow ridge '78 around the periphery of the annular heater 76 and the pressure and heat from the rim '7 8 severs the portion of the Web 64- under the heater 76 from the remaining portion of the Web 64, and the tension in the Web 64 causes it to rise from the collar 32. The feed rolls 72 and a guide roll 86 cause the web 64 to have a normal line of travel which is slightly higher than the top surface of the collar 32.

A shearing punch 80 moves downwardly into the dotted line position indicated in FIGURE 3, while the web 64 is clamped against the collar 32, and this punch 80 displaces the center portion of the web 64 into a die 82 which cooperates with the punch 80 to cut the opening through the centercf the ring 44.

The punch 80 then moves upward while the heater 76 holds the web 64 in contact with the collar 32. The portion of the web 64 which has been severed from the remainder of the web forms the ring 44, illustrated in FIG- URES 1 and 2. The heater 76 then rises.

The collar 32 is then displaced from the work station 55, being moved in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIGURE 3; and the feed rolls 72 ad Vance the web 64 in order to bring an uncut portion of the web over the work station 55. A new collar 32 is pushed into position under the web 64 and the cycle of operation is repeated.

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic showing of the apparatus for displacing the collar 32 from the work station 55 and for bringing a new collar 32 into position for the next cycle of operation of the attaching mechanism. There is a bin located to the right of the work station 55 and the lower end of the bin 90 has an opening 9 1 in its front side and a complementary aligned opening 92 in its rear side. A pusher 94 slides along a guide 96 and displaces the lowermost collar 32' from the bin 90 through the opening 11 for each cycle of operation of the apparatus.

As each successive collar 32 is displaced from the bin 90 into the shallow guide channel 58, it comes in contact with the collar 32 on the work station 55 and pushes the collar 32 ahead of it and away from the Work station 55 so that the collar 32 slides down a chute 98 into a storage bin.

The slide 94 is opearted from a frame 186 which has a finger 102 extending upwardly into a block 184 on the underside of the slide 94. Motion of the finger 102 is transmitted to the block 104 and slide 94 through a com pression spring 106.

The frame 1% slides on bearings 11d and is operated by a lever 112 through a pin and slot connection 114. The lever 112 rocks about a fulcrum bearing 1'16 and is reciprocated back and forth on this fulcrum bearing 116 by a link 1-20 attached to a strap 1'22 surrounding an eccentric 124. The eccentric 124 is rotated by a motor 126. The structure illustrated is purely diagrammatic and merely represents mechanism for moving the slide 94 back and forth to feed successive collars 32' to the work station 55.

In order to stop each successive collar 32 in the proper position atthe work station 55 there is an abutment 130 which moves up and down in a bearing block 132. This abutment 130 is urged upward at all times by a spring 132, but it has a cam (follower \134 which contacts with the bottom surface of the frame 100; and there is a cam 136 on the bottom surface of the frame 100' in position to displace the follower 134 and the abutment 130 downward during the portion of the stroke of the frame 100 which corresponds to the displacement of the collar 32 from the work station 55 by the next successive collar 32'.

Just before the collar 32 is fully displaced from the work station 55, and before the next successive collar 32 reaches the abutment 13%, the right hand end of the cam 136 moves beyond the follower 134 and the spring 132 pushes the abutment 130 upwardly into the path of the next successive collar 32. This upward movement of the abutment 139, after most of the collar 132 has been pushed across the top of the abutment 130, causes the abutment to tip the right hand end of the collar 32 upwardly so that it slides down the chute 98. The collar 32 is thus displaced from its contact with the leading edge of the next successive collar 3 and the leading edge of the next successive collar comes into contact with the abutment 131 The pusher slide 94 moves rearwardly again and out of contact with the collar at the work station 55 before the abutment 130 is pushed downwardly by the cam 136; during the return stroke of the cam. Although the downward movement of the abutment 130 serves no useful purpose during the return movement of the cam 136, it does no harm since the collar is already in position in the guide groove 58, but the cam can be designed so as to permit the abutment 130 to remain in elevated position during the return stroke of the frame if desired.

The motor 126 is supplied with power from a power line 144 and there is a switch 146 in the power line 144 for controlling the supply of power to the motor 126. The feed rolls 72 of FIGURE 3 are driven from a motor 154 supplied with power from a power line 156 with a switch 158 for controlling the supply of power. These switches 146 (FIGURE 4) and 158 (FIGURE 3) are merely representative of control means for starting and stopping the motors 126 and 154, respectively. In practice, the operation of the apparatus is made automatic so that the advancement of the web by the feed rolls, the feeding of successive collars to the work station, and the up and down movement of the ram are operated in timed relation with one another by automatic controls and without the intervention of an operator. However, this mechanism forms no part of the present invention and the diagrammatic illustration in the drawing is sufiicient for a complete understanding of this invention.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used. in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A paper bag having a panel at one side with a hole opening therethrough, and a sealing ring secured to the panel around the hole and with an opening therethrough of somewhat smaller diameter than the hole through the panel, said sealing ring extending radially inward beyond the edges of the hole on all sides thereof, for a distance substantially less than the radius of the hole, the ring being made of resilient and stretchable sheet material that distorts to a cylindrical contour around a pipe that is thrust through the hole and that has a diameter larger than the opening through the ring.

2. The bag construction described in claim 1 characterized by the ring being a thermoplastic material and being bonded to said panel by softened material of the ring itself.

3. The bag construction described in claim 2 characterized by the ring being made of polyethylene sheet material and said panel being a piece of cardboard.

4. A paper bag having a bottom wall, and front, back and side walls extending from the bottom wall, a panel at one wall with a hole opening therethrough providing access to the interior of the bag, and a sealing ring secured to the panel around the hole and with an opening therethrough of somewhat smaller diameter than the hole through the panel, said sealing ring extending radially in ward beyond the edges of the hole on all sides thereof, the ring being made of resilient and stretchable sheet material that distorts to a cylindrical contour around a pipe that is thrust through the hole and that has a diameter larger than the opening through the ring, the panel being part of the wall of the bag through which the opening provides access to the interior of the bag, and the panel being a reinforcing piece secured to the wall of the bag for stiffening the Wall of the bag around the opening, the bag having its front and back walls adjacent to one another with the side walls folded flat between them at the upper end of the bag to close the upper end of the bag, said bag being characterized by the material of the bag being an air-pervious paper and the bag constituting a dust bag for a vacuum cleaner.

5. A seal construction including a relatively stiff element having a hole therethrough, a flexible plastic sealing ring having an opening thereth-roug-h of smaller diameter than said hole, the outside diameter of the ring being substantially greater than that of the hole, and the ring being secured to one side of said element and substantially concentric with said hole so that the portion of the sealing ring around said opening extends inward beyond the edge of said hole, the plastic of the sealing ring being resilient and stretchable to a cylindrical contour when displaced by insertion of a pipe through the hole, the plastic ring being bonded to the relatively stiif element for a substan- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,528,332 10/ 1950 Bergquist 22'962.5 X 2,596,806 5/ 1952 Borkoski.

2,596,808 5/ 1952 Lofgren.

2,819,656 1/1958 Patterson 93-1 2,946,502 7/1960 Metzger 22962.5 3,089,636 5/1963 Swartz 229-625 3,116,667 1/ 1964 Friedman et a1. 93-1 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

BERNARD STICKNEY, FRANKLIN T. GARRETT,

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Examiners. 

4. A PAPER BAG HAVING A BOTTOM WALL, AND FRONT, BACK AND SIDE WALLS EXTENDING FROM THE BOTTOM WALL, A PANEL AT ONE WALL WITH A HOLE OPENING THERETHROUGH PROVIDING ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF THE BAG, AND A SEALING RING SECURED TO THE PANEL AROUND THE HOLE AND WITH AN OPENING THERETHROUGH OF SOMEWHAT SMALLER DIAMETER THAN THE HOLE THROUGH THE PANEL, SAID SEALING RING EXTENDING RADIALLY INWARD BEYOND THE EDGES OF THE HOLE ON ALL SIDES THEREOF, THE RING BEING MADE OF RESILIENT AND STRETCHABLE SHEET MATERIAL THAT DISTORTS TO A CYLINDRICAL CONTOUR AROUND A PIPE THAT IS THRUST THROUGH THE HOLE AND THAT HAS A DIAMETER LARGER THAN THE OPENING THROUGH THE RING, THE PANEL BEING PART OF THE WALL OF THE BAG THROUGH WHICH THE OPENING PROVIDES ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF THE BAG, AND THE PANEL BEING A REINFORCING PIECE SECURED TO THE WALL OF THE BAG FOR STIFFENING THE WALL OF THE BAG AROUND THE OPENING, THE BAG HAVING ITS FRONT AND BACK WALLS ADJACENT TO ONE ANOTHER WITH THE SIDE WALLS FOLDED FLAT BETWEEN THEM AT THE UPPER END OF THE BAG TO CLOSE THE UPPER END OF THE BAG, SAID BAG BEING CHARACTERIZED BY THE MATERIAL OF THE BAG BEING AN AIR-PREVIOUS PAPER AND THE BAG CONSTITUTING A DUST BAG FOR A VACUUM CLEANER. 